Concentration
If you want a game that will test your memory, then Concentration is a great game for all ages. All you have to do is shuffle your deck of cards and lay them out face-down in a grid. Take turns flipping over 2 cards. If the cards form a pair of the same value, keep those cards and go again. If the cards don’t form a pair, flip them back face-down and let the other person take a turn. Once all the cards have been collected, whoever has the most pairs wins!
Go Fish
Go Fish is the perfect game to play with young kids or family members when you want something easy. Just shuffle your deck of cards and deal out 6 to each player. On your turn, ask the other player if they have any cards of a specific rank. If they have matching cards in their hand, they have to give you all of them and you lay them out for scoring. If they don’t have any cards, then you draw a card. Whoever collects the most pairs of cards once the draw pile runs out wins the game.
War
If you want a simple head-to-head competition, shuffle the cards and deal them out evenly between both players. At the same time, each player flips over the top card of the deck. Whoever has the card with the highest value wins that faceoff. If the cards match, then a war starts, and more cards are dealt out until one person has a higher card. When you run out of cards, the cards you won become your new deck. Once a player wins and collects all the cards from the other player, they win the game.
Slapjack
If you’re looking for a quick, fun game to test your reaction speed, Slap Jack is super simple to learn. Just shuffle and deal the cards to each player in face-down piles. Players take turns flipping over the top card of their deck and playing it into the middle. Once someone flips over a jack, players race to slap their hand down on the cards. Whoever slaps the jack first takes all the cards from the middle and shuffles them into their stack. Once a player collects all of the cards, they’ve won! EXPERT TIP Ashton Wu Ashton Wu Board Game Expert Ashton Wu is a Board Game expert at Shelfside. After delving into the Yugioh tournament community while growing up, Ashton launched himself into the board gaming community in 2014 and went into reviewing board games as a career full-time in 2019. His YouTube channel Shelfside has over 35K subscribers and over 4 million views, assisted by written reviews on the Shelfside website and BoardGameGeek.com. He also consults with gaming companies to build high-quality gaming products. Ashton is a tournament commentator, board game playthrough director, and host of the Shelfside Podcast, where he talks about board games with his business partner, Daniel. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in addition to the Technology Management Certificate. Ashton Wu Ashton Wu Board Game Expert Slap Jack is one of the most fun two-player card games. It's easy to learn and fast-paced, making it perfect for a quick and exciting game. Grab a deck of cards and challenge a friend to some friendly and harmless hand-slapping competition.
Egyptian Ratscrew
This fun, fast-paced game is similar to Slap Jack but has more opportunities to slap and win cards. Deal cards out evenly between both players into face-down piles. When it’s your turn, flip over the top card of your pile into the center discard pile. As you reveal cards, watch for combos of cards, like pairs, jokers, and sequences, and slap the pile to add it to the bottom of your stack. Once one player has all the cards in their stack, they win the game!
Crazy Eights
The goal of Crazy Eights is to get rid of all the cards in your hand before the other player. You each start with 5 cards in your hand and a face-up card in the middle. If you have a card that matches either the suit or rank of the card in the middle, play it on your turn. Otherwise, you draw cards until you’re able to play one. The 8s are wild, so you can play them whenever you want and choose the suit for the next player. Any leftover cards you have after the other player gets rid of their hand count as points. After someone crosses 100 points, whoever has the lowest score wins.
Old Maid
Instead of buying special cards for Old Maid, just remove a queen from a standard deck to start playing. Shuffle and deal the cards evenly between the players and set aside any pairs you have in your hand. On your turn, take a card from the other player’s hand at random. If it makes a pair with a card in your hand, set them aside. Whoever gets stuck with the queen that doesn’t have a match loses and the other player wins.
Speed (Spit)
Want a fast-paced game where you race to get rid of all your cards? Shuffle the cards and split them evenly between 2 players. Each player arranges the cards into 5 piles that have 1 to 5 cards each. Then, you’ll both flip over the card on your remaining pile at the same time and put it in the middle to start the game. If you have any face-up cards in your stacks that are a rank higher or lower than the middle cards, race to play them before the other player. If you’re able to play all of the cards from your stacks, then you beat the other player.
Trash
Trash is a really simple family game where you try to collect cards counting up from 1–10. Lay out 2 rows of 5 cards in front of each player and set the rest of the cards into a draw pile. On your turn, take a card from the draw pile and place it into the position in the sequence if you can, like placing an ace in the first position in the top left. Flip over the card you’re swapping out to see if you can use it in another position, or else discard it. Be the first to collect all 10 cards to win the game.
Double Solitaire
While you can always play solitaire alone, it’s easy to play head-to-head if you have an extra deck of cards. Give each person their own deck and have them deal out 7 piles ranging from 1–7 cards. Flip the top card of each pile over to start. Take turns either moving cards between piles in front of you so they’re in descending order and alternating colors, or in the center of the table on the ace of the same suit in ascending order. If you’re able to get rid of all your cards to the piles in the middle of the table, then you’re the winner. For a more exciting variation, play at the same time and race to be the first to play all your cards to the center. If you finish before your opponent, then you win.
Spite and Malice
Similar to Double Solitaire, Spite and Malice has you racing to be the first player to empty a “payoff pile” of cards. Each player gets 5 cards in their hand and 20 extra cards for the payoff pile, where only the top card is face-up. On your turn, you can play a card to the center, either starting with an ace or by playing the next card in ascending order. Alternatively, you can play a card onto personal stacks in front of you. If you’re able to play through all the cards in your payoff pile before the other player, you’re the winner.
Kings in the Corner
In this twist on the classic game of Solitaire, each player tries to be the first to play all the cards from their hand onto piles in the middle of the table. Each player starts with 7 cards and 4 cards are dealt around the draw pile. On your turn, draw a card from the draw pile. Then, play cards from your hand onto the cards in the middle if they’re of the next lowest rank and the opposite color. If you have a King, then you can play it into the corner between 2 of the card piles. If you’re able to get rid of all the cards in your hand, then you’ve won the game.
Golf
If you’re looking for a casual family game, deal out 6 cards to both players and arrange them in 2 rows of 3. After you flip over any 2 cards in front of you, draw a card from the deck or discard pile and swap it with one of the cards in front of you so you have the lowest total score. After a player has all the cards face-up in front of them, tally up your scores. If you have the lowest score after 9 rounds, you win!
Scopa
Scopa is a classic Italian card game where you try to be the first to score 11 points. Take out the 8, 9, and 10 of each suit and shuffle the cards. Both players get 3 cards and 4 cards get dealt to the middle of the table face-up. On your turn, play a card from your hand that matches the rank of a card or is the total of 2 cards in the middle of the table (ex: playing a 5 to take a 2 and 3). If you don’t have a match, then the card gets added to the middle. Any matches get added to your score pile to get tallied as points at the end of the round.
German Whist
Whist is a popular card game, and German Whist lets you play with just 2 players. Shuffle the cards and deal each person 13 cards. Take the top card of the deck and flip it up to note what suit is “trump,” the most powerful in the game. On your turn, play a card from your hand to start a “trick,” or round. Whoever plays the card of the highest value in the trump or starting suit wins the trick. The winner takes the top card from the draw pile and the loser takes the next cards. After playing through all the cards in the deck, the player that wins the most tricks throughout the game is the winner.
GOPS
GOPS stands for “Game of Pure Strategy” because players start with a set of the same card ranks. Shuffle the diamonds into a prize pile and give each player all the cards of another single suit. During each round, the top card of the prize pile is flipped over. Each player picks a card in their hand to bid for the prize card. When you reveal the picked cards at the same time, whoever has the highest value wins the prize. If you win the most points from prize cards after the deck runs out, you win the game!
Schnapsen
Schnapsen is the national card game of Austria and it’s simple enough to teach anyone in the family. Take out all the cards with ranks 2–9 from your deck and shuffle the remaining cards. Deal out 3 cards to each player. Then, reveal the top card of the deck to be the trump suit, and deal out 2 more cards to the players. During a round, each player chooses 1 card from their hand to play and the highest value wins. Winning cards lets you subtract points from your total, and the first person to reach 0 wins the game.
Le Truc
In this classic European game, remove all cards 6 and lower from the deck. Shuffle the remaining cards and deal 3 out to each player. During a turn, you’ll each play 1 card from your hand. Whoever plays the card with the highest value wins the cards. At the start of a turn, you can choose to double the points for the round. If you win 2 of the 3 turns during a round, you win the hand and earn points. If you’re the first to 12 points, then you win!
Ecarte
In this simple game for all ages, keep the cards ranked 7 and higher (including the aces) and set all the other cards aside. Deal out 5 cards to each player and flip the next card over to be the trump suit that’s more powerful than the others. During a turn, each player chooses a card from their hand to play. The card of the highest value of the trump suit or the turn’s starting suit wins. If you’re able to win with 3 of the 5 cards in your hand, then you win the game.
Pinochle
In this classic game, you’ll try to win the most points by making combinations of cards and winning rounds. Set aside the 2–8 cards and shuffle the remaining cards into a deck. Deal 12 cards to each person, and flip the next card over to reveal the trump. One person leads with a card and the other person must play a card of the same suit. Whoever played the highest value wins both cards. As the winner, you can play scoring combos from your hand for extra points. Whoever reaches 1,000 points at the end of a round wins the game.
Gin Rummy
Gin Rummy is one of the most well-known 2-player card games, and it’s so easy to learn. Each player gets 10 cards in their hand and either takes a face-up card or draws a new card from the deck on their turn. Try to make a set of 3 or 4 cards of a matching rank, or 3 or more cards in a sequence to reduce the score of your hand. If you have the lowest-scoring hand, you earn points equal to the difference between both players’ hands. Be the first to reach 100 points, and you’ll win the game!
Marriage
In this classic game from Nepal, you’re trying to collect sets of cards of the same rank or sequences of cards of the same suit. Shuffle together 3 decks and deal 21 cards to each player. On your turn, you can take a face-up card from the middle or draw a new card from the deck before discarding another card from your hand. Alternate turns so you can form sets of matching cards and earn points. Once you’re able to play multiple sequences or sets on your turn, tally up scores for your cards and whoever has the most points from their combos wins.
Canasta
Canasta has you making combos of matching cards to earn the most points. Use 2 decks of cards and deal 11 to each player. On your turn, you can either take the top card of the deck or the top card of the discard pile to add it to your hand. At the end of your turn, discard one card. If you have a set of 3 or more cards of a matching rank, you can play them face-up in front of you. Once you go out, you score points for your matching sets based on the card values, and the first person to 5,000 points wins the game.
Hand and Foot
Hand and Foot is normally played in pairs of 2, but you can easily modify it just to play with 2 people. Shuffle 2 decks of cards together including the jokers and deal 11 cards into a “hand” stack and 11 more into a “foot stack.” To win the game, you’ll play cards that have the same rank to empty out the hand and foot stacks before the other player. On your turn, draw 2 cards and add 1 to your hand. When you have 3 or more cards of the same rank, lay them out. If you’re able to lay out all the cards in your hand, then pick up the cards in your foot stack to play through them.
Cribbage
While you’ll usually play cribbage with a board, you can easily keep track of your score on a piece of paper. Each player starts with a 6-card hand and gives 2 cards to the “crib,” which is a bonus hand of cards for the dealer. Players take turns playing cards, scoring points whenever the count reaches 15 or 31. At the end of the round, you score points for sets of cards and sequences in your hand, including the crib if you’re the dealer. Whoever reaches 121 points before the other player wins the whole game!
Blackjack
Choose one person to be the dealer and one person to play. Give 2 cards to the player face-up and 2 cards to the dealer so only one is showing. On the player’s turn, they can “hit” to add another card to their hand and try to get as close as possible to 21, or “fold” to end the round. If the player is closer to 21 than the dealer, they win! Otherwise, the dealer wins. Alternate back and forth who deals for the round.
Guts
If you want a really simple bluffing and betting game, shuffle your deck of cards and deal out 2 to both players. Have each player add an ante, such as a poker chip or a penny, to the middle of the table. When you look at your cards, decide if you want to stay in or go out based on if you think your hand has a higher value. A pair of aces is the highest value followed by any other pair. Otherwise, whoever has the highest card wins the payout from the middle of the table and the loser adds more chips to the pot. Guts doesn’t have a specific end, so just continue playing until you hit a set payout or until you feel like quitting.
5-Card Draw Poker
If you want to make friendly wagers against the other player, poker is the perfect game. Give both people some poker chips and add a minimum bet to the center of the table. Deal each person 5 cards and place bets on if you think you have the best poker hand. During your turn, you may replace cards in your hand with ones from the deck to make a better combo. After the second round of betting, reveal your cards to see who had the higher-scoring hand. The winner takes all the chips that were bet and a new round starts. Play until you win a set amount of chips that you agree on at the start of the game.
Regicide
If you’re looking for a cooperative card game, Regicide makes you work together by strategically playing cards to defeat powerful enemies. The kings, queens, and jacks all get shuffled and become the enemies you need to defeat. Take turns playing cards from your hand to deal damage to the enemy and activate the power of the card’s suit, like dealing double damage or healing health. Just be careful because the enemies will fight back and make you discard cards from your hand. If you both survive through all 12 kings, queens, and jacks, you both win!
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